Ferrari dealership in trouble for burning rubber on the Great Wall of China

Ferrari is not an outfit that would miss out on the enormous opportunity presented by the Chinese market. Having won the grand prix there three times out of the first four it was held, the Prancing Horse marque launched a special-edition 599 there in 2009, followed by an even more exclusive porcelain-finish one-off.

For 2012, Ferraricreated a special-edition 458 Italia to mark the year of the dragon, and to launch it, the local dealership in Nanjing rented out a section of the Great Wall. It's what they did with it, however, that has local authorities seeing red in more ways than one.

Apparently at some point during or after the demonstration, an employee of the dealership got behind the wheel of the limited-edition V8 supercar and pulled some smokey donuts. The problem is that the stunt left tire marks burnt into the ancient surface, leaving authorities understandably upset. What repercussions will ensue remains to be seen, but we certainly wouldn't want to be ticking off China's notoriously strict government.

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I think appropriate penalty under Chinese law is seizure of every Ferrari owned by the dealer. One for each local communist official, then the extras for their kids living in European boarding schools...
Oh, and the death penalty for the driver...

Yes, it has flappy paddle, and I agree that it is somewhat less exciting than changing gears with a stick. But really? Boring sounding? Ugly? What about a 4-pot NA 1.6l FIAT Multipla?
I agree an F40 is *better* than a 458 by all means, but that doesn't mean the 458 is a bad car!

The consequence is having the word 'Ferrari' blocked from online conversations...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18006291
Since China is Ferrari's largest market, I think there will be a LOT of groveling.